StarCraft: Frontline: Newsworthy
StarCraft: Frontline: Newsworthy is a story in the four-part StarCraft: Frontline series. It is found in volume 2. It was authored by Grace Randolph and illustrated by Nam Kim. Description Newsworthy A pro-Dominion reporter lands the scoop of lifetime: an exclusive sit-down with Emperor Arcturus Mengsk following an embedded mission with terran marines. Every good reporter tells both sides of the story, but when she comes face-to-face with atrocity, can she handle the brutal truth, much less report it? Synopsis A month before the anniversary of Arcturus Mengsk's inauguration as emperor of the Terran Dominion, Kate Lockwell was embedded with a group of Dominion Marines led by Major Tom Hawkins aboard the Minotaur-class battlecruiser Victory. This was the first embedding by UNN since Michael Liberty's experience during the Great War many years earlier. Lockwell was recommended by editor-in-chief, Handy Anderson. Hawkins accepted based on her political reliability. Anderson told Lockwell the assignment could make her career. An unpleasant surprise awaited Lockwell aboard Victory. She discovered her cameraman was replaced by Zach Oliver, a conspiracy theorist. Lockwell had fired Oliver several months earlier. The assigned cameraman had come down with a cold at the last minute, and Oliver was the replacement. Oliver may have had something to do with the sudden illness. Lockwell was not amused; she feared Oliver would ruin the high-profile assignment. Oliver assured her he was actively interested in determining whether the Marine Corps was a pawn or an active participant of the government. Lockwell made an early pro-Dominion report and was received favorably by the marines. However, upon landing near Candore Colony the reporter and cameraman were ordered to stay behind at a temporary camp. They were guarded by two marines while the remainder went into action. Upon their return, Lockwell and Oliver overhead a marine reporting to Hawkins that there were too many prisoners in the brig. The major curtly ordered the marine to "handle it", and refused to discus it or grant any interviews with Lockwell. Back aboard Victory, Oliver convinced Lockwell to investigate the prisoners. The reporter initially refused, but eventually came round; they needed something to report. Lockwell tricked a marine she had talked to earlier to confirm there were terran prisoners, and then the pair sneaked into the brig; Lockwell had studied the battlecruiser's layout prior to the assignment. They found the prisoners and began interviewing them. One man, told the story would be aired, claimed they were imprisoned for protesting against government policy. He directed the pair to a room filled with the stacked bodies of dead colonists, men, women, and children. Shaken, Lockwell told Oliver to make two backup copies of the report. On Oliver's suggestion they tuned in to Michael Liberty's pirate holo broadcasts. The reporter derided Liberty's broadcast for its possibly low viewership, but was taken aback when Oliver reminded her that there was more to reporting than ratings. From Liberty they discovered some of Candore's colonists had assisted the rebel Knights of Freedom. The colonists had subsequently disappeared after a Dominion raid. Liberty was embedded with the Knights at the time. The battlecruiser's marines discovered Lockwell and Oliver receiving Liberty's broadcast and arrested them. Hawkins demanded every copy of footage the UNN team had. The major did not believe Lockwell's claim that there were no backups and applied additional pressure by spacing Oliver. The marine then tried to kill her to maintain secrecy, but was interrupted when the Knights of Freedom boarded Victory. Lockwell fled to her ransacked cabin and found the backups hidden in a camera. Lockwell was shot in the shoulder by Hawkins, and was saved when the major was killed by the Knights. Liberty was amongst her rescuers. The UNN reporter gave Liberty one copy of Oliver's footage, and kept the other to give to the Dominion. Lockwell refused to leave with the Knights, despite the severity of her injuries. At the Knights' secret camp, Liberty and his cameraman were shocked by Oliver's footage. They tuned in to watch Lockwell make a pro-Dominion propaganda piece. Liberty believed his UNN counterpart was faking political conformance to protect the original footage and the knights. He decided to air Oliver's footage next month when Lockwell planned to interview Mengsk. Characters Reporters Others Hawkins Newsworthy Comic1.jpg|Tom Hawkins Notes Newsworthy takes place in 2502.April 6, 2010. "Timeline". StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). pp. 311 - 323. ISBN 978-1416-55084-6. Originally Grace Randolph made "Nora Colby" as the main character of Newsworthy. Blizzard Entertainment suggested she make the main character Kate Lockwell instead."Grace Randolph: @Mr. Grey I wrote Newsorthy about another reporter, but that was just because I was unaware that Kate Lockwell already existed within the game! When Blizzard suggested we change the lead to Kate Lockwell, I thought it was a great idea - but I'd already written the entire story at that point. I really liked the idea of creating a protege for Michael Liberty, and I hope to see that relationship will continue in Wings of Liberty - although we don't know for sure Kate's true fate at the end of Newsworthy. :)" "Grace Randolph:' Her original name was going to be Nora Colby." Medievaldragon et al. 2009-09-09. Blizzplanet Live Chat with Tokyopop: Starcraft: Frontline Vol. 4. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2009-09-11. References Randolph, Grace (w), Nan Kim (art), Matt Dalton (i). "Newsworthy." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 2 (paperback binding), pp. 68-121. Tokyopop, January 1, 2009. ISBN 978-1427-80831-8. Category: StarCraft: Frontline stories